Bearing



March 17. 1925; 1,529,996

H. N. GRESLEY BEARING Filed o 23, 1921 E 'Sheets-Sheet 1 March 17, 1925.

H. N. GRESLEY BEARING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 23, 1921.

Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT NIGEL GRESLEY, OF DON'CASTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN LOGOMOTIVE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BEARING.

Application filed November 23, 1921. Serial No. 517,343.

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, Hnmsnn NIGEL Guns- LnY, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Doncaster, England, whose post-oflice address is Avenue House, Doncaster, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bearings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. v I

This invention relates to. valve gear for locomotive or other reversible steam engines having three cylinders the piston rods of. which are connected with cranks set at suitable angles to each other, of the kind in which the valve of the intermediate cylinder is actuated through lever mechanism by or from the valves of the two outer cylinders without the employment of an independent or separate valve gear for the valve of the intermediate cylinder.

Particularly the invention relates to valve gear of the said type in which there is combined with the distribution valves of the outer cylinders and the valve gears of these valves, a pivoted lever working about a fixed pointon the engine frame and having a longer and shorter arm, the longer arm being operatively connected at its end to the valve spindle of one of the outer-cylinders, and a floating lever or sway beam connected at its ends to the valve spindle of the other outer cylinder and to the valve spindle of the intermediate or central cylinder respectively, said floating lever or sway beam being pivotally connected midway of the ends thereof to the shorter arm of the other lever whereby the necessary movements are given to the valve of the inter,- mediate or central cylinder by the movements of the valves and valve gears of the outer cylinders.

It will be appreciated that with valve gear of this type any slight interference with the axis of the pivoted lever or with the axis of the sway-beam is seriously ainplified at the ends of the levers so as to affect the desired operation of the valves.

It is found that however good a lit is provided for the pivoted lever on its pivot pin the wear that takes place after running for. even a comparatively short period is detrimental tothe eflicient working of the apparatus. I Y

The object of the present invention is to provide bearings for the pivoted lever and for the sway-beam or small motion lever such that the adjustment is not distributed during prolonged working of the gear.

For this purpose according to the invention the pivoted or large motion lever has interposed between its fulcrum or pivot pin a combination of roller and ball bearings so constructed and arranged as to avoid play without giving rise to undesirable friction, the said roller and ball bearings being located in a lubricant chamber which is rendered lubricant tight in any appropriate manner. v

In like manner there is interposed between the sway-beam or small motion lever and its fulcrum or pivot pin a combination of roller and ball bearings that prevent play without undue friction and that are. located in a lubricant chamber suitable packed to prevent the escape of lubricant. v

The arrangement in each case is such that the weight of the lever is taken by the ball bearings located between the roller bearings about which the lever can freelyrock without play or undesirable friction.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 shows in plan so much of valve gear embodying the invention as is nece sary to illustrate the same.

Fig. 2 shows the large motion andsmall motion levers in elevation.

Fig. 3 shows to a larger scale the fulcrum arrangement for the large motion lever partly incentral vertical section and partly in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a half in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a-similar view to Fig. 3 shewplan of the parts shewn ing the fulcrum arrangement of the small motion lever.

Fig. 6 is a plan of the parts shewn in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation showing the connections of the valve operating links to the ends of the respective levers.

Fig. 8 is a detail view to which reference will be hereinafter made.

member a of the underflame of the ongine. One end 6 of the large motion lever 1 is connected to the valve of one of the outside cylinders. outside cylinder is connected to one end 7 of the small motion lever 8 which is pivoted at 9, midway of its length to the other end of the large motion lever 1; the opposite.-

end of the small motion lever 8 being connected at 10 to the valve of-the intermediate or central cylinder.

on the fulcrum pin 2.- Between the inner.

races 1 1 ashorter sleeve 16is fitted on the sleeve and the lower end of the sleeve 16 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 17 that forms a seat for the.lower race 13 of the ball bearing 12 the upper race '19 of which is seated on an inwardly extending flange 20 formed in one with a sleeve 21 tightly fitting the boring of the boss of the large motion lever 1 and located between the outer races. 13 of the roller bearings.

The boring of the boss of the large motion lever 1 is closed at each end by an annular cap 22 secured in place by suitable studs and nuts 23 so as to provide: a lubricant chamber within which the several bearings are located. To prevent the escape of lubricantfrom such chamberv the inner peripheries of the cap rings 22 are formed with sealing grooves 24 and "fitted with packing rings 25 of thick felt or the like adapted to bear upon the sleeve 15 ora part secured thereto. Lubricant is delivered to such chamber from a lubricant cup 26 screwed into the boss of the large motion leverand-in communication with the ball and roller bearings through passages 27 formed in the leverboss and in the sleeve 21.

The bearing for the small motion lever,- see Figs. 5 and 6, comprises roller bearings 28 interposed between the boss 29 of. the small motion lever 8 and the fulcrum pin 30 which is mounted in the bifurcated end 31 of the large motion lever. The outer races 32 of the roller bearings 28 tightly fit within the boring of the boss 29 and the inner races 33 tightly fit a sleeve 34 11101111tCl O11- the pin 30. Endways movement of these races is prevented by the inner and outer races of a ball bearing 36 that takes the weight of the small lever 8 andis located between the upper and lower roller bearings 28. Cap rings 37, fixed by bolts and nuts 33 to the top and bottom of theboss 29, bear against the outer and lower'faces of the outer races and extend over the bor- The valve of theother ing of the boss so as to form a closedlubricant chamber inwhich the roller bearings work. In like manner to the cap rings 22 of the bearing for the large. motionlever: the cap rings 37 areformed with sealing grooves 39 and fitted with packing rings 10 of felt or other material that bear against the sleeve 34 or parts secured thereto. Lubricant is deliveredto the said lubricant chamber from an appropriate lubricant cup 7 5 at 41 screwed into the boss 29 and communicated with the lubricant chamber through a longitudinal groove 42;formed in 1 the lever -boss"-an d--' transverse grooves 13" formed in-the end-caps 37$ 44: is recoverring located -1betweenthe 7 top of the: sleeve 34 and the underface of the toplimb of thebifurcated end 31 of the largemotionlever. The pivot pins 45 "whereby the-oneend 6 of the large motion-lever a-nd'the two ends 7 and 10 0f the small motionlever are-connected to the links 16 that operate the valvesproper, work in mild steel bushes 47, see Fig- 7 that tightly fit the ends of therespective levers, lubricant being suppliedto the working surfaces from a. verticallyarranged lubricant cup 18 inthe case'of the connections to the outside cylinder valve gears, the lubricant passing from said cup through} appropriate passages 49 formed in the pin and lan'internal groove 50 formed in the sleeve .17; In the case of the pivot" pin 45 connecting the valve mechanism of the intermediate cylinder to the end 10 of thesmall motion lever,- a lubricant cup 51 is arranged horizontally and delivers lubri-v cant to the bearing surfaces through a passage 52wformed 1n the-boss of the small'= motion lever? and an external groov'e 53=and holes 54 formed in a sleeve- 55- that is -fittedon-the pivotpin', see Fig. 8 which shows the V sleeve 55: in section.

It will be miderstood that the invention is not limited totheprecise detailsofcon structionillustrated as variations in suchconstruction can be made without departure from theinvention, for example theraces -35. ofthe ball bearing 36 of the smaller lever 8 may in some cases bearrangedhorizontal-- ly in a similarway to-the ball races 18 and 19 of the'ball bearing 12 of'the larger lever 1.

hat I claim as my invent-ion and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The combination, with a stationary Verdi-" cal pivot of vertical 111)]?8133116'. lower race members-secured -,upon' the said pivot, an.

inner sleeve secured on the said-pivot be-- tween the said race members and provided with an outwardly projecting flange, a rocking lever mounted concentric witlr the said pivot, vertical upper-and lower race members secured in-th'e hub of the rocking lever and :arranged opposite the aforesaid race members, antifriction devices arranged -be'- twen the opposed race members, an outer sleeve secured in the said hub between its said race members and provided with an inwardly projecting flange which overlaps the said outwardly projecting flange, opposed horizontal race members secured upon the inner and outer sleeve respectively and bearing against their flanges, and antifriction devices operating to support the Weight of the lever and arranged between the said 10 horizontal race members. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HERBERT NIGEL GRESLEY. 

